My face is covered
With the beauty of civilization.
Let me wash my face!
Ogini n'eme?
My mothers are becoming fathers
And our fathers are deserting fatherhood.
When our children grow to pick
From the calabash of culture,
No one will be around to say the kolanut ritual
Because our faces are covered
With the beauty of civilization.
Let me wash my face!
Ogini n'eme?
When we can't know the depth
That wields the secrets of tomorrow;
Our daughters will keep nagging
And our sons will fly to the jungle
Because our fathers have lost their pencils
Which will scribble in our DNAs
The pride of an African.
Let me wash my face,
Because I'm blinded
By your beauty O civilization!
We can't see if we don't wash from our rivers;
See from our mother's pot
The joys of motherhood.
We can't see fine
If we don't tap from our palm trees
Our father's ideology of Africa.
Let me wash my face
Because I'm blinded by your beauty;
You who's veil fans our timid perception
To believe we're fornicators
Without a church wedding.
Let me wash my face once more
Because I need to see clearly
How beautiful we suffer before your presence.
ogini n'eme - Igbo statement meaning "What is happening?